Maybe it’s me, but when Bears general manager Phil Emery says that new Bears linebacker Shea McClellin was the team’s best "pass disruptor" when he played defensive end, everyone looks stupid.

First, Julius Peppers. Emery’s statement means the mistake that is McClellin outplayed the waste of money that is Peppers when it came to getting pressure.

Second, McClellin. Being the best "pass disuptor"’ on a team with one of the worst sack totals is embarrassing in its failure and tells you he was more of a disaster when it came to outside contain than he was effective in getting to the quarterback.

Third, Emery himself. He’s still trying to defend his first Bears draft choice, but if he’s so proud of McClellin’s pass disruptions and if pass disruptions are so important, then why is he moving McClellin to linebacker?

I’ll hang up and listen for my hummena-hummena-hummena.

There are so many layers to Emery’s and the Bears’ utter failure with the defensive line, but the most damning thing coming out of the GM’s office is that he is now being forced to redraft a pass rusher just two seasons after spending his top pick on that kind of player.

Emery said the McClellin experiment taught him to focus more on size and length with defensive ends, and I’m thinking, just focus on football players.

Here’s an idea: Focus on playmakers who face real opponents on a regular basis instead of in a conference where it’s a big deal to play in a bowl game involving poinsettias.

There’s a bit of hope that might prevent Emery from adding to his list of bad defensive picks, and that’s the draft being pushed into May. I’m hoping the extra time between the NFL scouting combine that ends today and the later draft weekend will allow the Bears GM to focus on game tape instead of "American Ninja" auditions.

But then, the extra time also might allow Emery to make mistakes in free agency, such as this talk about re-signing gimpy defensive tackle Henry Melton. That would be no more than a guess. The Bears are in no position to guess wrong on the defensive line. They’ve done that enough already. That’s why they continually redraft the position.

Seems to me, the Bears would be better off with a rookie who’s healthy. I know what Melton did before, but now he’s coming off knee surgery that undoubtedly will impact his burst and effectiveness. I don’t know what it will do to his ability to help stop the run, but it can’t be good, and the run defense is another issue that we haven’t talked about.

And it’s a big problem. So big, in fact, that fixing the Bears defense looks like a five-year plan on its own with the defensive line taking three of those years.

The Bears’ run defense was historically bad, which is saying something for a historic franchise. With that joke of a pass rush, it seems like the Bears have to pick one to improve first.

Me, I’m going with the best pass rusher available. It’s a quarterback league, which means you need someone to tackle the quarterback. You know, the way Peppers used to. That was, I don’t know, $14 million ago.

I have to believe that even those wonderful Bears talent evaluators who brought you last season’s pathetic defense recognize they can’t waste $18 million more on a guy who gives them maybe one game a month.

I also have to believe that Emery recognizes a disaster when he helps create it. That’s the good news and the bad news. The worse news might be that Emery is the first one who now has to fix it.

DBS Writer

Here’s an idea: Focus on playmakers who face real opponents on a regular basis instead of in a conference where it’s a big deal to play in a bowl game involving poinsettias.

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right there, stop looking at the combine #'s for your biggest impressions and look at actual game tape, you'll hit at more then a 50% rate(hopefully) on your 1st round picks. Shea was a bad pick at the time, and still is, w/only a slight hope of being better at OLB, even though it's still in a 4-3 and he's better suited at 3-4. Long worked out but again this was more combine impressions then actual college tape, b/c there was very little tape on him. Even Long didn't think he'd get drafted in the 1st, this one worked out. What Emery needs to do is find a guy w/actual game tape that tells him what the kid can do and if what he does fits in to what he and Tucker need him to.

I understand that the Bears had some huge defensive struggles last year but can you really blame this fall apart of the defensive line on Emery? He inherited a team that we all knew had huge holes as well as an awful, awful problem in regards to depth. I thought when he got this team it was going to be a massive project to get to a point where we had anything that resembled an offense.. and we've all known for a long time that this defense was getting older and a fall off was expected.. at least I've been waiting for it. I was so damn impressed how quick he fixed our wide receiver position, it went from a weakness to a strength in one off-season once Alshon got healthy. Next year he fixes the OL with a total overhaul that worked across the board.. as well as adding a playmaker at tight end. If you had told me that when Emery signed on we would be two seasons away from being 2nd in the NFL in points, only behind a Peyton Manning led Broncos offense that broke most of the offensive records around I would have laughed in your face.. and then walked away laughing.

Our defense was looking pretty good to me in the first few weeks and DJ Williams was rounding into form just in time for the collapse and then his immediate injury thereafter. We lost both our starters at defensive tackle and our third man up was playing through injuries all year. We were playing a DE at DT and Peppers decided to get old fast. Can you really put all that blame on Emery? Some players need a few years to get acclimated to the NFL speed and have the game slow down for them.. as they say. We didn't draft Bostic and Greene to be two of our starters. They may have done a bit better with our original lineup on the DL. It was sort of a perfect storm. Our safeties benefited from great corner play and pressure from the front four.. I think most Bears fan knew this. Tillman goes down so it's just Jennings, who played great. DJ Williams out all year and Briggs and Anderson in and out with injuries. Peppers getting older, Wootton playing out of place, and three layers our DT's being hurt. What defense could truly endure all of that and expect to do well? I'm not going to declare Bostic and Greene failures until they've had a few more years. I'm still waiting on McC.. it's obviously not looking promising but sometimes players take awhile. Yeah.. it's looking like a bust.. but I always wait for 3-4 years before I make a final judgment.. and then sometimes players burst out. Look at Benson.. he was junk for his tenure with us but when he went to Cinci he was dominant there for a bit. Alshon wass a beast, obviously. Hardin got hurt, who knows what he could have been.. sucks that we gambled on an injured player but hey sometimes that shit happens. I think Frey is a little baller, if he's got the players around him he's a solid ass nickel.. at least from what I remember. McCoy was a late pick and sure he turned out to be junk but he was a 7th right? Or a sixth. Kyle Long looks like an animal.. Bostic has showed flashes and lets see how he plays with some practice under his belt and a healthy team around him. He wasn't brought here to carry the team as a rookie. Greene, same thing.. and really he's a 4th rounder so I mean you can't be expecting him, as a rookie, to look great. He got drafted in the 4th because everyone knows theres things that have to be worked on. Mills looks like a great pick in the 5th. Washington is a 6th rounder.. lets wait before we condemn him. I can't hate on the pick, he's got all the physical traits.. lets just wait and see on him. There's 1st round DE's that take years to come into form. As far as our 7th rounder.. Wilson.. I liked what I saw at the tail end of the year. I remember reading he only had 2 catches but I coulda swore it seemed like more at the last game or two. Anyways, a 7th rounder.. obviously there's going to be some time before he's starting.. he's in the perfect situation to learn from Marshall and Jeffery. I read that he's down in Florida with those two and Forte and they're all working out together so maybe we'll see something similar to when Alshon went south to work with Marshall. I'm going to wait and see before I condemn Emery, even if he does have questionable picks this draft. How many Bears fans hated the Long pick and now are wearing the guys jersey?

Hindsight is 20/20, and it's easy for everyone to nitpick when they're not making decisions and don't have to deal with consequences. I'm optimistic, I'm open to be critical but his first draft is only 2 years old. Gotta give this kind of stuff time to develop.

right there, stop looking at the combine #'s for your biggest impressions and look at actual game tape, you'll hit at more then a 50% rate(hopefully) on your 1st round picks. Shea was a bad pick at the time, and still is, w/only a slight hope of being better at OLB, even though it's still in a 4-3 and he's better suited at 3-4. Long worked out but again this was more combine impressions then actual college tape, b/c there was very little tape on him. Even Long didn't think he'd get drafted in the 1st, this one worked out. What Emery needs to do is find a guy w/actual game tape that tells him what the kid can do and if what he does fits in to what he and Tucker need him to.

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I'm hoping so, it'd be nice to have a first round pick on defense that comes in and immediately contributes. Although in my opinion your gripe with Emery could be applied to Emery himself.. we have very little information, or "game tape" on Emery at this point. In a few years I think we'll have a better idea of what he thinks is most important in the draft. If I remember right, Jeffery didn't even participate at the combine.. and we traded up for him. I'm not saying you're wrong.. you very well could be dead on.. but a 50% hit rate sounds a lot worse before you realize he's only swung twice. He could hit his next 8 first round picks with All-Pro players. Or he could bomb. Or hit 50%.. I don't know. But I think the sample size is too small to judge properly at the moment.

I understand that the Bears had some huge defensive struggles last year but can you really blame this fall apart of the defensive line on Emery? He inherited a team that we all knew had huge holes as well as an awful, awful problem in regards to depth. I thought when he got this team it was going to be a massive project to get to a point where we had anything that resembled an offense.. and we've all known for a long time that this defense was getting older and a fall off was expected.. at least I've been waiting for it. I was so damn impressed how quick he fixed our wide receiver position, it went from a weakness to a strength in one off-season once Alshon got healthy. Next year he fixes the OL with a total overhaul that worked across the board.. as well as adding a playmaker at tight end. If you had told me that when Emery signed on we would be two seasons away from being 2nd in the NFL in points, only behind a Peyton Manning led Broncos offense that broke most of the offensive records around I would have laughed in your face.. and then walked away laughing.

Our defense was looking pretty good to me in the first few weeks and DJ Williams was rounding into form just in time for the collapse and then his immediate injury thereafter. We lost both our starters at defensive tackle and our third man up was playing through injuries all year. We were playing a DE at DT and Peppers decided to get old fast. Can you really put all that blame on Emery? Some players need a few years to get acclimated to the NFL speed and have the game slow down for them.. as they say. We didn't draft Bostic and Greene to be two of our starters. They may have done a bit better with our original lineup on the DL. It was sort of a perfect storm. Our safeties benefited from great corner play and pressure from the front four.. I think most Bears fan knew this. Tillman goes down so it's just Jennings, who played great. DJ Williams out all year and Briggs and Anderson in and out with injuries. Peppers getting older, Wootton playing out of place, and three layers our DT's being hurt. What defense could truly endure all of that and expect to do well? I'm not going to declare Bostic and Greene failures until they've had a few more years. I'm still waiting on McC.. it's obviously not looking promising but sometimes players take awhile. Yeah.. it's looking like a bust.. but I always wait for 3-4 years before I make a final judgment.. and then sometimes players burst out. Look at Benson.. he was junk for his tenure with us but when he went to Cinci he was dominant there for a bit. Alshon wass a beast, obviously. Hardin got hurt, who knows what he could have been.. sucks that we gambled on an injured player but hey sometimes that shit happens. I think Frey is a little baller, if he's got the players around him he's a solid ass nickel.. at least from what I remember. McCoy was a late pick and sure he turned out to be junk but he was a 7th right? Or a sixth. Kyle Long looks like an animal.. Bostic has showed flashes and lets see how he plays with some practice under his belt and a healthy team around him. He wasn't brought here to carry the team as a rookie. Greene, same thing.. and really he's a 4th rounder so I mean you can't be expecting him, as a rookie, to look great. He got drafted in the 4th because everyone knows theres things that have to be worked on. Mills looks like a great pick in the 5th. Washington is a 6th rounder.. lets wait before we condemn him. I can't hate on the pick, he's got all the physical traits.. lets just wait and see on him. There's 1st round DE's that take years to come into form. As far as our 7th rounder.. Wilson.. I liked what I saw at the tail end of the year. I remember reading he only had 2 catches but I coulda swore it seemed like more at the last game or two. Anyways, a 7th rounder.. obviously there's going to be some time before he's starting.. he's in the perfect situation to learn from Marshall and Jeffery. I read that he's down in Florida with those two and Forte and they're all working out together so maybe we'll see something similar to when Alshon went south to work with Marshall. I'm going to wait and see before I condemn Emery, even if he does have questionable picks this draft. How many Bears fans hated the Long pick and now are wearing the guys jersey?

Hindsight is 20/20, and it's easy for everyone to nitpick when they're not making decisions and don't have to deal with consequences. I'm optimistic, I'm open to be critical but his first draft is only 2 years old. Gotta give this kind of stuff time to develop.

I guess 2 of your starting defensive tackles tearing their acts and a signing you didn't make not performing well is this gm's fault? McClellin hasn't lived up to his draft spot, but he wasn't the only problem on this line or this defense. This is just lazy journalism. And by that logic the writer wouldn't have drafted a guy like jerry rice and a host of others because they didn't play in a major division. That's lazy too.

DBS Writer

I guess 2 of your starting defensive tackles tearing their acts and a signing you didn't make not performing well is this gm's fault? McClellin hasn't lived up to his draft spot, but he wasn't the only problem on this line or this defense. This is just lazy journalism. And by that logic the writer wouldn't have drafted a guy like jerry rice and a host of others because they didn't play in a major division. That's lazy too.

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I agree Butkus. Rosembut is a douche bag IMHO. He usually goes for the extreme type article & to me he just comes out looking like a jerk & can't be taken seriously. To come out with an article saying Emery needs to step up would be more than sensible & show that he actually had some sense. To call Emery's situation an "ongoing disaster" is ridiculous. Could Emery have done better so far? Absolutely, but hardly a "disaster". He fixed the offense quicker than anyone thought possible. I know he won't leave one stone unturned to fix our "D". Will he fix it in a year? Hell, I don't know. Maybe, probably not. Probably more like 2-3 years. I think he will pickup a couple of good FAs that will get things rolling & hopefully he'll keep the ball rolling with some solid draft picks. The draft picks is where we need to see an improvement & I think we will. Time will tell.

Just a guy who had to write an article. Shay was a bad pick. Nobody is denying that but it was just one pick. The rest of the train wreck was not necessarily Phil's making and it isn't a 5-year project. It can be done quick. Look at our Oline troubles. Nobody thought that was fixable in a year.

Hopefully it will light a fire under the Bears Ass and get some good solid picks who can start for many years. Need a Pro-Bowler or two. As a side note has anyone ever tried to correlate the combine drills to positions and results. I tried earlier and found minimal correlation. I went to NFL.com and the statistics tab. Picked sacks as my category and got the people in the nfl with the most sacks last yr. Pulled there combine drill numbers and realized I just wasted 3 hrs of my life. LOL. May be some small trends but.like faster 40 seems to help as the faster ones get more sacks. and the other trend is Vetical Jump. Had to group sacks more than 15, 10 to 15, etc. do begin to see a trend. So minor I say screw the combine numbers " WATCH THE FRICKEN TAPE"

DBS Writer

Thanks for posting that BSBears. I've looked at similar metrics on there, where you find one correlation you find it lacking in another. I'll take a injury free DT with decent to good metrics that can stuff the run and a DE that doesn't get washed away at the point of attack that is decently athletic with good body control.

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